Thursday 2/3/2011

Thursday

I don't think it got quite as cold as the weather people thought it was going to. They were predicting a hard freeze, yet I just checked the temp and it is 32 degrees. Yes, I just checked another source, it's 32 degrees. I believe my plants can survive that, it's the 25 degrees they were forecasting that had me worried.

Meanwhile, my dogs are giving me stares this morning as I put on their sweaters and herded them out the door. Sorry, doggies, but with those sweaters on at least you'll stay warm. They are all short-haired dogs, not exactly the kind of coat necessary to keep warm on a cold winter's day. The trailer tenants are going in the house this morning. Lynnette said around 8, I'm guessing they are in there right NOW, lol. Well, they'll take the dogs in with them is the point. I guess they feel they need to have a valid reason to be in the house, this apparently fits the bill.

I'm absorbed with the Egypt chaos going on. Now the military is doing something to at least put a stop to the violence, that's a good thing, I'm curious to see where this is all leading. Are the protesters really going to be able to get 1,000,000 people out there? If they could, that would be a sight to behold.

My back is hurting. I have had chunks of flesh ripped out of my body on a few occasions in my life, it ranks right up there with the worst of it. I have no idea how much she cut off of there, but it must have been a good sized amount cause' usually, stuff like that doesn't last very long in the pain department if it's small.

As for all the bad news she gave me yesterday, I just have to shrug my shoulders. I can't do anything about the past, I can only look towards the future. I haven't used much sun screen in my lifetime, so, my left arm has a lot of "stuff" on it. She told me I better start using sunscreen on my arms as well. I have been using it on my face since she told me to - even though there is now a suspicion floating around that sunscreen can cause cancer.

Saturday is my 47th birthday. I don't really know what to think about that. I sorta feel as long as I'm in my 40's, I'm not really that old, but don't say that to the younger generation. According to them, you'd think I already have one foot in the grave.

I don't know, but I am seriously considering going back to the gym. There is a Gold's Gym about 3 miles away from my house. I spoke with an individual on the phone yesterday, he would not, of course, give me a price over the phone. Typical sales pitch, sounded like a car salesman. Come in, sit down and we'll figure out what you need. You mean, come in, sit down and sign on the dotted line, don't you? I didn't ask if it was a contractual arrangement, if it is, I won't be going to that gym. Too many other gyms no longer require contracts.

I think they just want to try and persuade you to sign up. I AM serious about working out at this point, which is the only reason I called. I could hit the gym on the way home from work 3 days a week to start. Not going to set any weight loss goals at all, just want to get in there, get on the cardio machines and take advantage of a much greater selection of free weights. Plus, they usually have a machine that works on your abs.

I think I could get into it again, but this round, I want a portable music player of some sort, one that you can download music to. You know, the kind of music that motivates you? I know plenty of rock and other style music that gets me moving, lol.

Well, I finally got out of him - the dude at the gym on the phone - that the "average" monthly fee is about $25, which is what I expected. A FAR cry from the days of yesteryear where you were expected to sign at least a 1 year contract and the fees were much higher than that.

I'm just about at the end of the "thought" process - do I really want to do this - and into the yes, let's get with it. If I find I simply can't muster myself to getting in there at least 3 days a week, I'll drop it and feel stupid for not having enough motivation to work out at an organized venue. I think that is enough motivation in itself.

Right now? Well, I'm not very motivated to go out into the freezing cold and start pulling orders to load onto the truck to go out to jobsites, but, that's the nature of the business I am working at and really have no choice...........

...g'day.

ben

Wednesday 2/2/2011

The, uhh, doctor, was a bit out of sorts, I do believe.  She was not necessarily focused - a day after the death of a loved one, perhaps, might do that to a person.  I tried the empathy route: my best friend died a month plus ago.
Yes, that helped ease the situation in the room.  I don't know what her notes said on that computer, but she had totally forgotten that she was going to cut things out of my flesh and that a full body inspection was to be done.

Not cause' I WANTED any such thing, but that she ordered it the first time I went there.  I just went along with wherever she was going with this, but I was giving hints along the way.  She wanted to "freeze" things again on my flesh.  I suggested that when I was here the last time, you were talking about cutting things off.  She said something about the full body exam last time, I mentioned that that hadn't been done and that you were talking about doing such this time.  After a while of this, a light turned on in her head and she remembered all of it.

Well, she says, do you want to do the exam today or just put it off to some other time?  No, thank you, let's get this done today.  I didn't bother to mention that the $50 co-pay isn't exactly appealing and let's get all of this done NOW, don't ask me to come back again for awhile unless there is some serious issue.  She's a nice lady, I cut her huge slack for going to visit family of the deceased and then coming back to work the next day.  Okay, now I am taking off my clothes to the underwear and putting on a gown.

She finds - I don't know, this went on for quite a while - 30 of them?  Basil cell lesions all over my body.  Legs, arms, face, neck and back.  Unbelievable.  I'm thinking what the heck am I living in this damned desert for.  Get OUT of this place.  Go to Minnesota where it's currently 28 below zero or something.  Yeah, THAT sounds wonderful.

She didn't cut out the stuff in my arms that she said that she was going to do last time.  Instead, she got out the Nitrogen thing and started freezing all of it.  Face, arms, legs, back.  "Did you know you have huge lesions on your lower back?".  No, thanks for telling me.  "You have sensitive skin, we're going to have to deal with this redness".  Yes, I hope we do.  Look, it's not that she's a nasty person, or even putting it nasty, it's just that the news is becoming increasingly - depressing  really - as this goes on, and on, and on.

We get to this "thing" on my upper back that I didn't even know was there.  She was particularly concerned about that.  So much so, that she cut a good sized chunk of flesh out.  It doesn't feel particularly good at this point in time, either.

I'm not in a good mood right now.  That visit today, in and of itself would not have put me in a bad mood, it would definitely get me thinking about things, but not a bad mood.  No, but then this kid tenant calls me and tells me I need to write him up a statement for Arizona's "free" health care declaring the amount of rent he is paying me per month.  He didn't ask me, it was a demand.  Like I MUST do it for him.  I got off the phone quickly with him - I am at the line with this guy.  That's the line where you cross and some very negative things will start issuing from my mouth.

Then I found out that tonight, it's going to be even colder than last night.  A low of 27?!!! The HIGH today was 47.  Yeah, I know, the rest of the country is in a blizzard and minus zero temps, I'm sorry and I hope that everyone comes through that okay.  I am just not used to this kind of winter.  I"m sure that some scientist somewhere will try to find a way to attribute all of this to global warming.

However, the agitator for me about the cold tonight are my plants.  Some of it isn't going to survive, even if covered up, if it gets too cold for too long a period of time.  I have my C-7 Christmas lights covering 2/3rd's the side of the east side of my house in plants.  If some plants out front die, I can deal with that, dig them up, throw them out and do something else.  But over THERE, where my ponds are? NO thanks.  Those lights put off some amount of heat, that coupled with being completely covered up with blankets and I am hopeful for a good outcome.

You know, some days you just put behind you and put them out of your system.  This is going to be one of them.  It didn't get any better, with the kid tenant who has no clue in life.  Sympathy and empathy with your common man is non-existent with this person and after he started up with his stuff, I snapped at him and gave  a very clear signal that I didn't want to hear it.  It's amazing this person has made it this long in life without learning basic, elemental respect and common courtesy for your fellow man. I don't know, but he departed for his room after that and I haven't seen him since, which is a very good thing, thank you.

You wanna go on?  I wanted to print something off of my old computer - I don't have this computer connected to the printer, that is going to change.  I tried to bring up the internet and the freaking thing got error messages and took forever to get there.  The usage of the computer is going to be changed from administrative to the "lower" tier, don't remember what it's called.  The lower tier does not allow downloads and restricts lots of sites.  

Then, I had to worry about my dogs in the cold tomorrow morning.  Put the sweaters on them, that's what I will do.  How long will that last?  Not long.  I already spoke with Lynnette, one of the trailer tenants, she will GLADLY come in here with the dogs.  Okay, well, they're going outside until she brings them in, but I won't worry cause' yes, they will have heavy sweaters on and that will be sufficient.  She is going to get up and bring them in.

It's just one of those days.  I haven't even gone into all the crap I've read on the news, or the terrifying situation going on in Australia.

Uhhh, so this entry is done.

Looking for a bit better day tomorrow.
ben

Tuesday 2/1/2011

Tuesday

When you see a news story with a headline that states: "100 million threatened by massive winter storm", you first wonder if that isn't a bit of an exaggeration, then you begin to wonder just WHAT kind of storm could cause that big of a threat?

Umm, just reading about what's coming. It's going to get cold enough here to freeze tonight - meaning dragging out all those sheets and blankets and putting them back over the plants again, plus turning on the heat in the ponds.

Josie's surgery this morning, mine this afternoon. It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood.

Okay, back to Egypt. I finally have found some of the reason that these people are unhappy with the current Egyptian regime. Half of that nation's population live under or barely above the "poverty" line at $2 a day. Huh? The World Bank thinks poverty starts at $2 per day? If I were making $20 per day I would still think that poverty. But, I'm a fat, rich American, right?

Then there's the stories of police brutality and police high-handedness - taking advantage of it's citizens and making them do basically whatever they please. I dunno, I don't live there, but I do have a FB acquaintance who has a son living over there. Her son reported that the cops "disappeared" for several days - they were taking off their uniforms and going around looting businesses making it look like the protesters were nothing but a bunch of maraunding hoodlums. Interesting take this kid has on the situation - but he's there, I am not.

Obama's health care plan struck down. I figured that would come along eventually. The administration says some sort of precedent has been set already and that this judge's ruling will be overturned. Bunk. When it gets to the Supreme Court and THAT court makes a ruling, then I'll call it a precedent. That law has hardly been in existence for any length of time, there IS no precedents set. Judges making rulings, sure, but the appeals process hasn't hardly begun yet.

They like to talk in such a way that you'd think they believe we are all a bunch of bumbling idiots. I don't have to be a lawyer to know how the system works, thank you very much. This federal judge's ruling will be appealed like all of them will be whether for or against the bill, ultimately it MUST be decided in the Supreme Court. It will be the showdown of the ages as far as I'm concerned, since Obama has MUCH to lose in credibility and ability to get himself elected in the next presidential race.

Of course, I was never a fan to begin with and after seeing him completely ignore the will of the American people, well, his 4 years will not be up soon enough.

Superbowl rhetoric is heating up. I am an unabashed Pittsburgh Steelers fan. I grew up in Pittsburgh, I have a REASON to be a fan. The accusations fly high and heavy: you are just jumping on the bandwagon. Perhaps I did, when I was in my mother's womb attending my first Steelers game in 3 River's Stadium some 47 years ago. I didn't just get on the Steeler's bandwagon. I have been a fan during the good and the bad years - I am confident of a 7th Vince Lombardi Trophy for that team. I have had people at work, online and in others mouthing off to me about how the Steelers suck and how they already have enough trophies, let someone else have it. Since they got in my face, I got back in theirs: A simple wager of $100. No takers yet. I figure if I can go to a casino and drop $100 on the table, that's the minimum bet I would place on the Steelers as well.

Well, get through this day, get flesh cut off my arms, go home, put up blankets and sheets on as much of my plants as possible and - nothing. No work tomorrow, doctor's orders.

Nothing in the truck routing system today. Oh well, hopefully something will come up, I would rather not have to "invent" things to do to stay busy at work.

Have a great day, this is the Day that the Lord hath made and I will rejoice and be glad in it.

ben

Monday 1/31/2011

Monday

Yes, I lost another weekend to no entries, oh well.
Josie stopped by on Saturday, she had gone to the cemetery to visit and see if they had her husband's plaque done yet - not.

I was surprised to see her. I was going to call her yesterday and see if I could bring down those DVD's with the memorial service on it, but, she beat me to the punch. She really just stopped by to get those DVD's. Fortunately, she has a good friend that lives near where she is living that has been with her just about every day since Boe passed.

I wonder what, exactly, we - the U.S. - is supposed to do in this situation? I hear a lot of pooh-poohing of Obama's doing nothing. I'm curious as to what options there may be for us to do ---- what, exactly? Who would we support if we were to try and step into this mess? The flip side is if we do nothing, what if some other nation does something and - suddenly we have lost an ally in the Middle East?

I also wonder how long those people are going to keep all of that up? Now they are calling for 1 million people to come out and demand the resignation of it's current leader. I also wonder what must be going through the mind of Mubarak. I would have to guess that he doesn't really want to lose power. It's an interesting situation.

If you really want to read something scary, though, just read the story about Pakistan having doubled it's nuclear arsenal over the past several years. How did the world allow Pakistan to acquire any nuclear armaments? The world is in unrest, but - it seems to always be that way. Some would believe we are in the end times, others that we are at the cusp of it. I have no idea, God knows that, that's about the only one I know of that has any idea the REAL plan that's unfolding here. You could look at various scriptures in the Bible and surmise that we are in the end times, if you wanted to interpret it that way, I think I'll just live my life and either grow old and die or watch Biblical prophecy unfold before my eyes.

Either way, we all have to go out of here one way or the other. Admittedly, some ways seem to be more appealing than others......

The new tenant is moving in, or, perhaps, IS moved in. I dunno. The light was on in his room this morning when I left. He says that last night - well now 2 nights ago - he didn't sleep at all. Kids come out at night, I'm guessing he must be referring to teenagers or maybe the 20 something crowd, walk up and down the hallway all night long and make all kinds of noise. Then, he stated, the music that you hear all over Mexico comes blaring out of speakers from whoever lives below him.

A living nightmare. That's what I call apartment living. I hate it, hate it, hate it. Between my own experiences with it and hearing tales such as this man's, well, living in a cardboard shack with peace and quiet sounds more appealing than living in a lavish apartment that has noise being directed into your ears all night long. That and WEIRD people. Always always, there are strange, weird people living in those places. Not everyone, not throwing a blanket, just that you run across a few that like to start trouble and have very strange views of things.

I told him last night that if other tenants were making too much noise at night, let me know. This was stated towards the other new tenant. I know he stays up very late, I have already caught him making a lot of noise at 1:00am and I really don't want 1 person causing life to be miserable for everyone else.

I do not consider staying up all night long to be the societal norm. Not that it's wrong, just that if you ARE going to do so, you should either live in a place where everyone else does the same thing, or, you should expect to be walking on tip toes and keeping it very quiet. I don't believe this guy does any of that. He shuts doors loudly, makes a lot of noise just walking through a hallway.

I know - this is going to be a rough one. I am slowly dumping on him etiquette of living with other people and I can tell he isn't liking it. I have no sympathy, whatsoever. Life is rough and it only gets rougher if you are going to brace against the standard. Simply meaning that bucking up against the system doesn't usually get you anywhere and is a waste of time if the particular system you are attempting to buck is a GOOD system.

He took the fan out of the big bedroom by asking Tiffany, who was in there at the time, if he could use it. I had told Tiffany that I bought that fan for that room. So, Tiffany calls me the other night wanting the chair he was using out of his bedroom. Can't go in there without his permission. When I went in there and saw that fan, well, I took that, too. He obviously wasn't too happy about that, but he knew it is MY fan and that I had bought it for the OTHER bedroom.

My guess? This kid would be better off living with other guys his age. Of course, that assumes that those other guys are all responsible, will pay the bills and get everything taken care of. It turns into a dicey road at best when you start thinking of all the little paths that such a situation can take.

Anyway, enough of that as work day is here and there is, fortunately for me, plenty to do in the truck routing system.

G'day.

ben

Friday 1/28/2011

Friday

So, I have been looking for a good used queen sized mattress and box for the bedroom that is being vacated. I finally found one that is used, but still in excellent condition at a great price. Delivered. Delivered it was, that pain is over with.

Start a new set of pains. For being "furnished" bedrooms, they are woefully lacking on any furnishings. I am starting a quest to find some stuff to put into them to make them more appealing and functional as a bedroom. I don't have a single dresser in any of those rooms. No big hurry, just scour the ads - even the free ads sometimes people are giving away really good stuff - every day until I find what I want at bargain-basement pricing.

Meanwhile, the tenant that is moving out left a message with another tenant that she is coming today to get the rest of her stuff. At noon. I will be calling her in a couple of hours - it is very early for most people right now at 5:42 am - and inform her that I am concerned about her moving stuff out of my house and potentially having her friends that are helping her leaving the gate opened - and my dogs go running down the street. The point will be to considering coming a couple of hours later when I'm home and can control the dogs.

While all of that is going on, the trailer tenants have upped their quest to find a job somewhere. They have been attempting to find a gig in an apartment complex in doing maintenance or even partial managerial duties plus maintenance in exchange for a room and a small salary. I bid them good luck and fortune on each attempt. Nothing solid, yet, but hopefully if they keep at it, they will find something eventually.

Wow. I'm rather mesmerized by the pictures of the clashes and the stories of 10's of thousands of people protesting in Egypt against it's ruler, who they want ousted. That's some serious business right there, I'll be keeping my eye on that series of news stories. For me, it is so much better to just READ the news and not have all the interjection from any of the news agencies that tend to mix in their own, political agendas. I don't want to hear that junk from either side of the line, I just want to hear/read news at it's face, truth, not spin doctors and hype preachers attempting to morph something into a thing that it is not. Of course, you say, the written version may have that same junk in it as well. Perhaps, but not to the extent that you HEAR it on TV.

I was looking into switching my internet service over to Cox cable, completely changing the subject. Basically, every thing I have read says that cable internet is far superior to telephone line internet, which is what I am using.

There is a huge downside to getting cable installed. First, you have to buy your own modem unless you are also going to do the phone service for a minimum of 3 months. Second, installation is not free. What planet did this company just fall from? Everyone else gives free installation, that's part of the deal to get you to want to switch over. The flip side, though, to it is there is no contract.

You get 3 months of reduced pricing and after that it is regular price. The only real incentive is faster internet speeds. Like, 4 times faster than what I currently have. I have found used modems online at cheap prices - and that's for a modem that Cox "approves" of for use with it's system. Installation fee? Other fees? No idea, I was sort of taken back once I found out that none of that stuff is free. With Qwest, the phone service provider that is also carrying internet, the installation is free and there are no contracts, either. The modem is NOT free, however, and I paid $100 for that thing I have in there right now.

The problem is that the highest level of service I can get in my area is 7 megs per second. It's okay, but definitely not great or even that good. Cox is offering up to 50 megs per second. I wouldn't go that high because the monthly fee is something like $90 per month, but I could get double the speed I have now for about the same money.

I'll have to think about that one for awhile. Actually, I need to call Cox and find out what all the fees add up to and then I'll make a decision.

However, this entry? Is history as time has run out. Today is our company's bi-annual inventory - which I do not partake of because for whatever reason, they do not want drivers participating. Which is funny, because I frequntly do cycle counts, warehousing, pulling orders where counts are critical, but no biggies. They will work the weekend, I'll be at home : )

G'day.

ben

Thursday 1/27/2011

Thursday

So, I get on Facebook this morning and I have several messages. I have added all kinds of friends to Facebook in order to get Cafe World neighbors. I put my Facebook UID up on an "Add-Me" forum under Cafe World and bang, all KINDS of requests come pouring in.

The funny thing is, some of these people want to get into conversations about things that have nothing to do with an online, unreal restaurant. 

The funnier thing is they are from all over the world and are writing me messages in their languages! lol. I don't speak French or Bulgarian, thank you. However, Google translator does, and from what I am seeing, it does a pretty good job of it. 

So, a lady in France says it's her birthday and she thought it a fine b-day gift to herself to be talking to an American man. Yikes. Well, not too scary, there is a great expanse of water separating us. I bid her a happy b-day and moved on to the next message.

This is a kid in Bulgaria - who plays Cafe World - and is inviting me to his event. Yikes, this is scary. Why? Cause, it's a kid on Facebook, but again, another great expanse of water separating us, I ask him WHAT group he is referring to. This is, of course, all in Bulgarian. To me, a rather odd looking language in print. I go to look at his group: he is forming a group of people to take a stand against short recesses, lol. He furthers it by saying that they don't have enough time to line up, get out of school, run down to the nearest store, get whatever and get back in time. Didn't want to throw a wet blanket on his party, but around these parts, kids aren't ALLOWED to leave the school campus to go ANYWHERE unless it's time to go home. 

More messages. Don't have time for it. Gotta git to work. I have these pre-work rituals and if I don't get to all of it, I feel like something is missing that day and it can be hard to shake. 

My muscles - feels like all of them in the upper body - are sore. I have been working out with weights. My muscles weren't exactly getting flabby looking, but it isn't the look I want, especially in considering attempting to find a lady. Attempting to build up the chest, biceps and triceps to start with. If I keep at it long enough, I may decide to start up at a gym. They don't cost near as much as they used to and you don't have to get into any contracts. 

Speaking of contracts, Cox cable doesn't require a contract for their high speed internet. I have been pondering whether to switch over and dump Qwest. Cox's internet comes through their own cable, Qwest's internet comes through "twisted pairs" they call them, the phone lines. Allegedly, the cable route provides much faster service. 

Social Security to run out by 2037. This is the latest report. I will be in my 70's at that point in time, if I live that long. I don't know what to say about that. Politicians don't want to do anything about it, they never do. It is an unpopular subject for them and there are no easy fixes. 

Work day arrived, on-time, and I'm done.

G'day.

ben

Wednesday 1/26/2011

Wednesday

Tiffany - the tenant that is moving out - showed up last night with 2 people and a pickup truck and began the process of moving the large amount of things she has in her room - out. Which is a good thing. I have the room paid for in advance for the entire month of February, I was glad that she was sticking to her word. 5 full days to get it completely emptied, carpet cleaned and ready for the next person.

The other tenant that just recently moved in - is posing some problems. Basically, I am getting that this guy has never lived in a shared housing type of situation and I guess it's time for some education. We don't shave our faces and then leave the little hairs all over the counter. We don't put our personal hygiene items on the bathroom counter and leave them there - you only do that if that is your own, personal bathroom. Yes, you can leave shampoos on the ledges in the shower, but nothing stays on the counter excepting the anti-bacterial hand soap that I keep a constant supply of there.

We don't pile dishes in the sink. We don't come up with the excuse that the dishwasher had clean dishes in it, therefore, no place to put dirty dishes. Instead, we empty out the dishwasher, put the dishes away and then start the process of putting dirty dishes back in.

We don't sit on the owner's computer and attempt to hijack it when the owner comes home from work.

But, the coup de grace was yesterday. He was on my old computer, filling out some sort of online form to sign up for school to get a security license to become a security officer. I let him stay on it since it was related to him getting a job and decided to sweep the kitchen floor and then mop it.

I got that all done just before he got done on the computer. The floor was still wet. He started walking towards the refrigerator. I stopped him. "Can you wait a couple of minutes until the floor dries, please?" Well, Ben, I have to get ready for work, I need to get my food ready right now. "Can you wait a couple of minutes until the floor dries, please?" I have to get ready for work now, if I don't leave early, I will hit rush hour traffic and I will be late for work.

I am getting visibly annoyed at this point. If it was such a rush to get ready for work, what was all of that sitting on my computer for 20 plus minutes after I had graciously allowed him to use it as long as he needed to to get his stuff done on there? The idea that he couldn't wait a few minutes for the floor to dry? I offered it this way: GO AHEAD, DO WHATEVER YOU NEED TO DO.

"I'm not trying to be a prick......yada yada yada", was his reply and onto his excuses, but instead of going into the kitchen, he went to his room. My first thought was maybe he wasn't TRYING to be a prick, but he was definitely accomplishing that goal with great perfection, I might add.

I went and got some paper towels and manually dried the floor so that I wouldn't have to mop it over again.

This guy isn't going to work out. The other night, he was making so much noise, as I reported in another entry, that it woke me up - me having ear plugs in and a large box fan running next to my head. I asked Martha, the other female tenant about it. She had wondered if there had been a party out here that night. NO, I replied, it was him and JD living it up, at mine and your expense in terms of sleep.

Again, the guy has no clue. I don't know if it's just that he doesn't KNOW that what he is doing is unacceptable in such a situation or that he doesn't CARE.

But, it only gets worse. Lynnette - the trailer tenant - reported that he was yelling into his phone - at his mother - yesterday. I have heard him raising his voice in his bedroom as well.

I have no choice but to write up a notice - I am not going to get into it with him personally, at least not on the "first volley", spell all these things out and ask him if my place really is the right place for him to live. Cause' in reality? A person that wants to live like that needs their own apartment. Of course, he cannot afford such a thing. He will only continue to run into problems living with other people such as he is with us wherever he goes, irrelevant of who it is he is living with.

But, I am going to write up that notice today and I am going to leave it under his door. It isn't an eviction notice, I think I have decided on the title being something like: "Notice: Shared Living Etiquette".

If he doesn't like it, he's free to leave. He is paid up through the end of the month. In such a situation, I don't want or need an advance move-out notice, if he can't or won't change, I will give him the appropriate 30-day notice since that's all I can really, legally do and deal with it that way.

I get people that are real pickles once in a while, long-time readers know full well who those individuals from the past were. This guy is starting to rank right up with Mary, Justine and Sheila. Those are names from the past, people that moved in, all 3 were forced out with restraining orders. 2 of the orders I had served, 1 of them was Mary serving on Justine.

I don't think I'll need a restraining order here, I think I will try reason and logic with the man because, I still am not sure that he understands that he cannot just go around doing whatever he pleases without possibility of consequence. I'm guessing this is his first "adventure" into living with other people besides his own family. The way he talks to his own mother gives a good clue as to how THAT situation must have gone for the last 20 whatever years that he has been living and walking on the face of this planet.

I have talked with his mother, she called for him, he was not home, I talked with her. She didn't bring up negative stuff, so I didn't either, she actually sounded like a really nice person.

Well, that's life in the rental lane. Nothing new under the sun, but it's been a while since I've had to deal with this kind of nonsense.

As for me, work day approaches and there is some pipe to pick up at a vendor and deliver it to a jobsite.

Therefore, I bid you........g'day!

ben

More Of The Hummingbirds

Both feeders were running low on the sugar concoction the multitudes of hummingbirds are drinking - at the tune of about 2 inches of it a day.  That's a lot, at least compared to a month ago.  So, I stopped at Walmart today hoping to find a better deal than that of which Fry's had - $5.00 for a bottle that  half fills them up twice.

Sure enough, they have $0.97 packets of it - makes a quarter per package, enough to half fill both feeders which is all I want to do anyway.  I bought 5 packages, should be enough to last quite a while.  Got dog food, pond clarifier and a new AC filter - it's full of junk and I want to replace it in case I need to turn on the heat again anytime soon.

Came home.  Got on the computer - I do that pretty much first getting home. Got up from that, mixed up the mixture and put it in the fridge.  Directions say to use warm water to mix it up, I wanted to put it out there cool, not warm since they are used to drinking a cold concoction.  Felt tired, went and took a nap.  Came out, the "kid" tenant - he's early 20's - was on my old computer.  He is trying to find a new job.  He said he would be on it for 5 minutes, so, I decided to get the feeders, clean them out and put fresh liquid in them.

Ummm, I was not prepared for what happened next or what's BEEN happening since the point in time that I took the feeder into the house.  One of the regulars had come up to drink, I had the thing in my hand.  He went and perched on the fence, looking at me.  I went inside, thoroughly cleaned out the feeder, poured in fresh concoction, took it back out.  One of them - don't know which - buzzed me.  Stopped about 6 feet above me, hovering.  MAD. That bird was fuming mad!!  And now?  They can't drink out of the thing, they are too busy fighting!!

Benb notes that next time he wants to refill the feeder, do it at NIGHT.  I have no idea why this action of me refilling the thing sent them in to a huge frenzy, but it did and it's been going on for over an hour now.  I refilled the other feeder but there isn't any activity going on over there.

Other things going on, but, I'll save that for tomorrow's entry.

ben

Tuesday 1/25/2011

Tuesday

Rather odd. I have been running ads for the room - that will be vacated shortly as I called the lady who is "occupying" it and asked when she was going to get her stuff out of there.

She lost yet ANOTHER job. Unbelievable, the third in 2 months time.

But that isn't the subject. A man calls. Now, I have in both the subject line of my ad and in the content of the ad itself, written very clearly: Available February 1st. This guy calls me, tells me he just got into town, got out of the airport and was at - the major intersections near my house. In other words, he was moving in today.

NOT. Can't rent out a room that is full of someone else's stuff and I told him that my ad plainly states that it isn't available until Feb 1st.

Next? Phone rings again about an hour later. This time it's a man who wants to come see the place - right now. I offered the same information: not available until Feb 1st. I know that, he says, and explains his situation in living in an apartment complex with people walking up and down the hallway all night long making all kinds of noise. Yes, I know that scenario ALL too well. I didn't really want to show it last night, it was getting closer to my bedtime and I was not in the mood, but he REALLY wanted to come over, offering that if it looked good, he would put money down on it.

Okay, that was enough bait for me, come on over. He did, too, within 15 minutes he was at my doorstep. Umm, make that gate step, I don't have a front door by design : ) Showed him the room - boy does that woman have a LOT of stuff in there, I am calling her again today. Please just get it out of there. She is worried about being able to pay the rent. She was caught up until Monday. She obviously thinks I am going to make a big issue out of it - not. She has no job, I am letting her off of this last week just to get her to get that stuff out of there. I haven't told her that yet, I just came to that decision this morning - otherwise - she is going to wait too long to get it done.

Getting off of that tangent, we start the "talk". This is why I wasn't in the mood, I insist on talking with people for some time to get a feel for where they are coming from. If I am tired, I may not come off too well. But, I put on the happy face and the discussion was enough to lead me to believe more positive than negative. He pulls out the entire month's rent for February and that was that.

There has been only one other time that a person put money down on a room and that was from a lady that actually sent a check from Oregon.

After that, Mario, the other new tenant, comes out and wants to have a frank and blunt conversation. Yes, well I do those types of conversations well, thank you. He was next to blasting music out of my older computer's speakers last night at 1:00 am with JD sitting there - they were definitely living it up. No, I wasn't happy, I usually am not when I am jarred from sleep in the middle of the night and have to go out and deal with things.

So, we discussed that and the fact that I wasn't in a good mood this afternoon. Yes, I said, because I didn't sleep well the previous night and when that happens, well, I don't always want to talk to everyone. Look - there are also times when I just want some solitude. People can pass by in the kitchen, I am on my computer, I don't necessarily feel the need to say something to everyone everytime they pass by. I'm doing my thing, they're doing theirs, great. I am not unsociable, I just want to shut off the world here and there, tune things out and focus on whatever I am into at the moment. Yes, I have a bedroom I can go to, I spend very little time in there excepting to sleep.

The conversation ended well enough, but it was late - an hour past my bedtime.

Oh well.

My dermatologist appointment is for the 1st - cutting off flesh apparently - and then I was remanded to take the next day off. So, I have to ask today, I totally spaced it out that I needed a day off. In fact, the appointment sounds about as fun as jumping into a cesspool - this doctor wants to inspect all of my skin. Whatever toots your horn, lady, but ALL of it? Yes, cause' you haven't had it looked over in over a decade.

I didn't bother to tell her that in the case of having it ALL checked over, that has NEVER happened excepting maybe when I was a baby, a thing I wouldn't remember anyway. Do you have your skin examined once a year? Lol. She tells me every 6 months because I am "at-risk". Great. Just what I want to do, spend an afternoon in a gown in an office somewhere getting spected'.

You may be able to tell that I am not a fan of visiting doctor's offices. I am most certainly am NOT. I hate waiting, I hate taking my clothes off for a complete stranger to peer into whatever they want to as if I am some sort of machinery that needs greased and fine-tuned.

Whatever. I haven't even gotten to the news yet, which consists of a crop circle in Indonesia, a woman stepping down from the global warming position, lol, a more somber note of a bunch of cops being shot all over the country in a very short period of time (so they are fearing a war on cops) and a bunch of other stuff, really.

That's all, as I have work day approaching and as yesterday, there is plenty to do in there.

G'day.

ben

Monday 1/24/2011

Monday

2 days of not posting anything. Well, in reality, I had almost an entire post written up on Saturday, got busy with other stuff - and just never posted it. Yesterday, I didn't feel like writing, so there.

My dad sent me a rather strange email the other day about "this email may not be working and sending mail to my home address may not work, either". Followed by another email saying he would explain later, followed by another email saying that it would now work?!! 

This was a mass email sent to me and a bunch of other relatives. No clue. Is he and his wife having a spout and he was getting kicked out? Speculation galore as there has been no explanatory email stating what, exactly, he was talking about. I will be sending him an email this morning asking him what's going on.

The Pittsburgh Steelers are going to the Super Bowl!! I watched the first half of that game last night against the Jets and thought we were going to have a completely boring game. When the second half started, I hoped for a bit more of a challenge and the Jets did start picking it up - too little, too late. 

Typically, the Super Bowl is on or near my birthday, this year a day after. This is how I can instantly tell anyone, any time of the year that asks when the Super Bowl is - ohh, around the beginning of February, usually near the 5th....

Ummm, well, I want to get some other stuff done before the work day starts - which there is PLENTY to do in the truck routing system this morning, best way to start a work week is to start out running. What I want to do before the day starts is get another room rental ad up on Craigslist - a week before the end of the month, this is the time to get those ads going twice a day - so, I'm offa here.

G'day.

ben

Saturday 1/22/2011

Steelers V Jets today, dunno what time yet, still early.  Went to bed early last night as well, which isn't abnormal for me.  I have no plans made for today - yet - still pondering that one.  It's brisk outside so going out there will wait until the sun comes up and warms things up a bit.

I have been closely inspecting the damage caused by recent frost.  I am tempted to start cutting back branches and such, but, the experts tell you to not do that until spring.  I just hate to leave a tree looking like that for that long.  I am not, however, in any rush for spring to get here.  When spring gets here, summer is just around the corner, I can wait : )

I'm not exactly sure how many hummingbirds are using the feeders now.  It is hard to distinguish.  I now see 3 of them feeding at the same time several times a day.  If I am standing even within a foot of the feeder, they will fly right up and drink away.  I freeze and don't move, so I don't know if they don't recognize that I am standing there or if they simply have no fear.  I haven't seen a lot of fighting going on in the last several days, which is nice, I really don't get off on seeing one bird trying to dominate the entire feeder.

Changing the subject: Obama doesn't get it.  I don't know that he ever will, but - he didn't get a clue from voters in the last election, apparently.  Obama wants to spend more money.  Great, wish I could just pull money off of some imaginary money tree and spend, spend, spend.  If this nation didn't have a HUGE deficit, great, try it out. He is basically going to advocate, in his state of the union address, spending more money.

Do you live paycheck to paycheck?  I know several readers here that do not, but, many of them are just as concerned about this nonsense as mr. Average Joe and Jane that can't just go out and buy whatever he/she wants whenever he/she wants to.  But, I personally know a LOT of people that are living paycheck to paycheck - several managers at my work are doing that  even with 2 incomes in a married situation.  I guess I don't see where the government gets to just blow money wherever on the notion that spending more money will in some way end up gaining even more.

It takes money to make money, sure, but that is in the private business sector.  The government has grown to unsustainable proportions and as always, wants to grow even more.  It always wants to grow more.  The people running it make that possible and even encourage it.  I am waiting to see if the republican party that has basically taken over the House is going to do what they said they were going to do in the last elections.

Back to the hummingbirds, I moved the new feeder to a completely different location.  The first feeder is to the east, I watch it out the living room window - or I am standing out there and they come up to it regardless.  The second one I moved away from that area today and put it due south - I can also watch that out the back door which also has windows in it.  They already found it.  The first one has up to 4 bird feeding on it at one time now.  The one I just moved has just one using it.  I'm glad I moved it, is all.

I had this one as a draft, decided to go ahead and publish it, ie: the end.

Friday 1/21/2010

Friday

Strange dream last night, woke me up. An impossible act: a man came up behind another, opened his mouth, put it over the entire man's head, bit it off and swallowed it. The headless body plopped onto the ground. A few seconds later, this grotesque looking "head" came out of the man's neck. That dream woke me up.

Well, whatever and anyway, it's Friday. I was surprised to find a LOT of work in the truck routing system had been dumped in there overnight. About 30k worth of pipe being delivered to a contractor plus a bunch of stuff to be picked up for Monday deliveries.

Just nice to have something to do - which has been the norm to some degree lately versus nothing.

Obamacare and it's many dissidents and more pointedly, the news of all that is going on to repeal it, well I find it highly entertaining. The lastest "attack" against it is the State of Idaho claiming that they can simply nullify the bill in their state under some "archane law" or otherwise put as " Idaho's Republican-dominated Legislature now plans to use an obscure 18th century doctrine to declare President Barack Obama's signature bill null and void."

Lol. The amusement in all of this is Reid. The man is a relic. How he got voted back in, I'll never know. It still appears between polls and public opinion that more Americans want this thing repealed than not, start over and do it right - that's what I said at the beginning of this nonsense. My thoughts were that they were pushing the thing through like a runaway train. There was NO way, IMO, that they had spent anything near the time it would really take to research this thing through and come up with a good plan that wasn't going to end up throwing more public money down the toilet.

Off of that subject, another subject that always interests me are the pirates on the Somalian coast and now more of them being killed, this time by a raid initiated by South Korea to retake a ship that had been taken hostage. There is a pretty cool pic of the special forces, on the ship, crouched down by the windows, apparently about to go in and kill a bunch of them while at the same time, keeping all the civilians alive. Bravo, bravo, bravo!!! Gotta love that! You gotta figure a lot of training goes into making something like that happen in making sure no civilians are also killed in the firestorm - you can see holes in the windows where the helicopter and the naval ship were giving covering fire - pretty awesome. I wonder if they were also videoing it, I would love to see that.

January 21, 2011 6:05 AM 

Anonymous said...

Well, I guess my HAMP thing is underway. I mean, I've sort of been told on the phone that it is, I haven't really received any written confirmation of that. I will send in the first of 3 month trial payments tomorrow and then call them Monday to ensure that all paperwork has been turned in, is correct and if not, please resend and I will re do it, thank you.

This is the HAMP killer: you don't get it right the first time? You don't get a second chance, that's the FEDs saying that, not the lenders. It means before the first payment is due, you have to have i's dotted and t's crossed - perfectly - or it's a no-go. Once you start the HAMP process, it goes very quickly. It is NOT difficult to do, but I can understand now why the news reported that many of these modifications don't go through and people lose out on the opportunity. It's a hard and set rule: NO second chances.

I found the whole process a bit surprising in how fast it moves and the fact that you have to get everything done in a very short period of time. The news, as I have read it, has not reported this very well. They've only eluded to homeowners claiming that banks lost their paperwork, they did not elucidate on the subject of no second chances, short time period between when you first start the process and when the paperwork is due. It sheds a little fresh light on the subject, at least for me.

Now? I guess there are those calling for 30% down payments to get a home mortgage. Others want to revert it back to 20% - whatever the case, I am now becoming more comfortable with staying in my house seeing all of this starting to come out. How many people are going to be able to come up with even 20% down? On a $200,000 home, that's 40k. Just happen to be carrying that around in your back pocket, right?

I've trashed this subject around in my mind for months now. It has been a terribly difficult decision for me to decide whether to stay in the house and live with the fact that it's so far underwater, or short sale it and live with the fact that I will probably be a renter for the rest of my life. Seeing this 20 or 30% down stuff today in the news? Thanks, I think I'll stay and start saving to build a small guest house. It's going to be a long time, I'm guessing before my house's value is anywhere near what the mortgage is on it, I might as well start saving money, get another rental going on the property and get more income from it. I had toyed with this idea before - but that was when times were better. Now? I'm stuck at my house, I don't see any reason why not to build. Money, of course, but, I am now starting a more aggressive savings plan in my 401k, which I am now fully vested in. It might take a year or 2 to build up enough to get enough out to put up a good structure, I can live with that, not like I have any choice in the matter.

Work day is here.

G'day.

ben

1/20/2011

Thursday

Thursday, already? I did a double take on the calendar this morning thinking - for whatever reason - that today is Wednesday.

One man replied to my ad - well a real person and then a couple of scammers. The scammers say they want to rent your room and will pay 6 months in advance plus all kinds of fees included in that payment. You get sent a cashier's check, deposit it in the bank, then you "forward" some of the extra money they sent to an acquaintence. You see, this person is only try to help a friend with some much needed finances. A week or more later, the check bounces, if you spent any of the money, you are screwed. 

I occasionally toy with these people. One time I got it pushed to the point where the guy gave me his alleged actual phone number after I told him the first phone number was no good. I didn't go beyond that, it would have been a long distance phone call. So, I informed him I knew he was a thief and told him to bug off. Never heard from him again, lol.

The problem with the guy is that he has a dog. I have had enough experience with other people's dogs in my house to know it isn't a very good idea. Pissing all over the place, attacking my little dog - it just doesn't seem to ever work out, so, I didn't even respond to him. I have ways that it could be made to work - the dog would be in a kennel in the person's room during the daytime - but most people object to that. Not that kenneling a dog is considering inhumane, it's just that many people think it too confining and "punishing" the dog for nothing.

Well, they can think of it any way they please, but when it comes down to brass tacks: it's my house, not theirs. They find it very difficult to find anyone to take them and their dog in. I might, however, consider it with an extra $50 per month pet fee. Save the money while the person lives there and then use it to replace the carpet in that bedroom. I dunno, I'll think about it, I have time right now. The real push for people looking for new places to live generally doesn't start until the last week of any given month. I'm starting to become an expert at this stuff. 

I am upping the deduction out of my paychecks for 401k to 5%, initiating that today. I have 2% coming out. I can't afford it, but I can't afford not to. I will figure out how to live without the other money. Getting my hours back at work would be extremely helpful in that endeavor, but there is no sign in sight that that is going to happen any time soon. 

I was hoping this month I would get the safe driver award. Although the list hasn't come out yet, I know I won't be getting it. I got warnings last month and just getting warnings is enough to disqualify you. Of course, a safe driver, one would imagine, is one that stays out of accidents. I dunno, I guess I think it a bit unfair that as hard as I try to be as safe as possible - and getting no tickets or getting into accidents - I still get removed from the list. It would have been a week's pay. When I see that list and my name not on it, I am going to probably be a bit grumpy. 

Oh well, such is life. Right now, that extra money would be really nice. 

Work day approaches,

g'day.

ben

Wednesday 1/19/2011

Wednesday

So begins yet another round of trying to find another tenant. On top of that, I remembered that the queen mattress that was in that room is now in another room, because that tenant wanted to use her own mattress in there. So, I am going to have to buy a queen mattress for that room now. 

Gag. 

Hope I can find a decent used one as a brand new one is out of the question. Okay, a surfactual glance under mattresses and I see a bunch of them on there, some of them in the price range I would be looking at and some of those are good mattresses. 

Not big on used mattresses, but a new one is out of the question. You can buy those cheap, junk, uncomfortable mattresses, sure, but that's the point, they are junk. They don't last long and doesn't exactly nurture a good sleeping environment.

Whatever the case, I have a couple of weeks to get that done. I'm a bit nervous about losing the trailer tenants. If they get the job, I no longer have eyeballs watching over my place during the daytime while at work. They don't have the job yet and are competing with 2 other couples that also want the job, the owners apparently wanted management to come up with the 3 best couples and then the owners are going to meet with all 3 and make their decision. I DO hope they get the job, I just hate to see them go. It will be a HUGE standard of living increase in having their own place, free, plus $1,300 per month salary plus free utilities. That's hard to beat, especially for people that were homeless. 

Not much else and my time is up.

G'day.

ben

Tuesday 1/18/2011

So, I started writing an entry this morning but got caught up in other things going on, so, oh well.

The HAMP mortgage adjustment is apparently going through.  I was congratulated earlier today in a generic email and asked for more information, lol.  Oh, and sign a bunch of documents.  I can say that I read every word of the documents I was signing, oh yes, I did.  Nothing in there than what I already had learned about this program and fully expected, no shocks or surprises, I signed my life away, faxed it back to them, figure I will get more stuff as well.  I am now on a 3 month trial period - again as the modification I did last year.

Tenancy issues.  Always, always.

First and totally expected:  the female tenant that is never here is moving out at the end of the month.  I was happy to get the information 2 weeks plus before that date, not as the last guy, who handed me a money order and informed me he was moving out THAT DAY.  She is actually paid up through this week.  Amazing.  I am going to start running ads for the room today.

The trailer tenants - have been gone all day long.  Nothing new, they take off here and there.  The news is that they have interviewed for running a small apartment complex.  They made it through the first interview and have to go before the owners.  This might be the break they were hoping for - a salary, an apartment with free utilities.  They are using me as a reference and I am happy to recommend them.  I hope they get the position. I hate to see them go, but living in that trailer ..........well, I'm sure it is a motivating factor to get  a decent place to live and get life back in order.

I found a new doctor today.  I didn't look long.  It was based on location.  Yesterday was a dermatologist, today was a general practice deal - the person you go to with your life - the physical aspect of it - and hope she/he can figure it out.  I tell people I have skin cancer and they freak out. Maybe I should be far more alarmed than I am, but, I am not.  They cut it out, you're done unless it's the type that can spread.  Then, thet keep digging until it's ALL gone.

Earlier, I was outside cleaning out one of the pond filters.  It's quite the job, actually.  We're talking a large apparatus and it gets filled with fish crap and whatever else.  Not really nasty, just takes a while.  In fact, I wash out everything right over the top of plants - get that stuff into the ground, it's great fertilizer.  The neighbor's dog crashed down the partition, came over to the fence and started barking at me.  I said quite loudly: "Guess it's time to turn the music on".  10 seconds later, people were out there calling the dog and tell him  - in Spanish - to shut up.

Thank you.  I don't want to HAVE to turn on the music, just do the right thing and we won't have any more problems than we already have.

So now, I am potentially facing having the trailer tenants gone and all the stuff they do.   Meaning a lot more work for me.  I don't know that I want to find someone else to live in there, haven't decided that yet and they aren't gone yet.  If they do leave, well, I dunno.  Another great person or persons, sure, sleaze, slobs and filth, no thanks.

Today - has posed me enough to deal with, thank you.  I'm not stressing, but it was enough.  I don't want anymore, hope that's the end of it.

Good evening.

ben

The Dermatologist

I have never been to a dermatologist.
I am, admittedly, totally clueless here.
I would never have gone but I was told I needed to see one.
A dermatologist wants to mess with your skin, apparently.
Examine it with a giant magnifying glass; blast some freezing cold
junk at it; ask you a lot of questions about your exposure to sunlight;
ask if you have ever had skin cancer or anyone in your family;
use a lot of terminology I have either never heard before or have heard
but never investigated.

Honestly?  Walking in there, I got the sense right away that this is women's world,
not necessarily a place men visit.  I really had NO idea.  My answers to skin cancer
raised the alert status to the highest point, apparently.  Me, yes, one of my brothers, yes.

This lady had more bad news than a mosquito facing a fly swatter.
I went in there to find out what is going on with my face, not to find out that several "things"
on my arms are potentially more skin cancer.  I'm not saying that dealing with reality is a bad
thing, I just wasn't NOT prepared for the list of things coming at me.

She examined my face and told me it was swollen in several places.  She asked a LOT
of questions.  I answered as LOT of questions.  She believes my 35 years - minus some years
as a missionary in other states and in Mexico - and the fact that I rarely use sunscreen - is not helping
me, to put it mildly. She then suggested that she and I would become best friends.

Uh-huh.  At $50 co-pay per visit, I kinda doubt that.  However, I was open to everything she said, I received it, absorbed it and am pondering it.  She gave me 60 rated sunscreen protection and told
 me to use that from "now on".  Okay.  I didn't resist, just had some thoughts wandering around the
shelves in my brain attempting to collect any relevant information that might be stored there.

Pleasant woman, yes.  No, in terms of personality, a great visit.  In terms of the information given, I was
wondering what my life expectancy is.  She told me to stop, immediately, the use of facial anything that
has - whatever it is - in it. 2 different things.  She was spouting off terminology that apparently "most"?
people know? I am not stupid, I can guarantee you that, but in this realm, I can say I am not knowledgeable

She made it easy, there are only a couple of things on the market according to her that she recommends that doesn't have "those things" in it.  I call them things, she called them names.  I don't remember those names, but I'm sure in the next season of life, coming now apparently, I will be learning all of that.  Or, I will just not. I don't presume to necessitate the facility of having to know everything about everything.  Perhaps, in some cases, a professional and what they know is enough.

That sounds good, of course, but I am far too much of an inquisitive person to leave it at that.  I will do my homework, you can count on it.  You can BET on it.  I didn't doubt her, though and when I got home with
my "free" $50 samples, I cleansed my face with the special soap and then put whatever the facial cream
is over it and I can tell you right now, it feels MUCH better.

2 weeks from now? I am to go back.  She promised that several "things" were going to be removed from my flesh.  She also informed me that I would not be working 24 hours after that.  Yup.  I've had plenty of flesh wounds and kept on working.  The point was that bandaging would have to be placed over the removed flesh areas and - whatever.  It's 2 weeks from now.  I will ask for the next day off, cause' I was told I have to.

Let's face reality: she observed several areas on my arms that she believes are pre-cancerous.  I don't doubt
her.  I also don't doubt that I am going to spend as much money on visits there as it takes and take whatever
time off of work that I have to to get this in-check as much as is possible.

I am an outdoor person.  That's a big part of who benb is.  I like being outdoors.  It comes from my family and the lines.  We like being outdoors.  If you like being outdoors in the Phoenix, Arizona area and have for a good portion of your life, well, you have also been exposed to a great deal of sun and UV's and all that kind of terminology and yes, you might pay for it.

Just another reason I want to leave this area permanently.  I stuck here for now.  I don't want to be in this extreme heat and sun.  Blue skies are great, but you pay a price for it around these parts if you are light-skinned and of European descent.  Not a racial statement, just a statement of physiological fact.

G'nite.

ben

Monday 1/17/2011

Monday

Well now the real story has come out, or so it is believed, anyway. The Stuxnet worm was created by Israeli and US government. Lol. I find this highly amusing. Don't go over there and drop bombs on Iran's nuclear plant, just destroy it from within through a virus. The war of the future is here. No nukes, no missiles, no guns, just volleys of computer viruses.

Did you read or hear the story? Iran claims the damage was negligible, yet the Times story says something completely different: "The Times said the worm was the most sophisticated cyber-weapon ever deployed and appeared to have been the biggest factor in setting back Iran's nuclear march. Its sources said it caused the centrifuges to spin wildly out of control and that a fifth of them had been wiped out."

Absolutely amazing, the entire story was, not just that portion of it. 

Well, onto other things. My dad said that in Sierra Vista - not terribly far from Tuscon - there hadn't been any kind of memorial for the victims killed by a complete nutcase. So, he and his wife set one up, I think at the military base down there, invited the entire community out and yes, a lot of people showed up for it. 

Dear old dad. I remember thinking after that tragedy occured: I wonder if dad is going to do something in Sierra Vista about it. He wasn't going to, he's getting rather old and moving around/doing things is getting more and more difficult for him. So, reading his story of how he put it together and got it going was pretty cool, indeed. 

I'll be - his name is all over the local news down there and the event apparently was publicized. He did it out in front of Gifford's Sierra Vista office. 

Well, anyway, I have a doc's visit this afternoon, nothing else grandiose or great going on today. A couple of things to do in the truck routing system this morning - better than nothing.

Have a great day, folks, enjoy life while the enjoying's good to get......

G'day.

ben